The recently introduced Apple Watch with LTE is without question the biggest update to the Apple Watch we’ve seen yet. Though early incarnations of the Apple Watch were solid, the inclusion of LTE finally affords Apple Watch users the freedom to leave the house without always having to have their iPhone nearby. Now that all sounds great, but some users who were quick to snatch up Apple’s LTE-enabled smartwatch were dismayed to find that the LTE feature didn’t exactly work as planned, which is to say that LTE functionality was temperamental at best.
Before long, it was discovered that the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE wasn’t particularly adept at passing along a data connection from Wi-Fi to cellular. As Apple noted in a statement two weeks ago: “We have discovered that when Apple Watch Series 3 joins unauthenticated Wi-Fi networks without connectivity, it may at times prevent the watch from using cellular. We are investigating a fix for a future software release.”
Alas, that long-awaited ‘future software release’ is finally upon us. Early this afternoon, Apple released watchOS 4.0.1 to users. As far as we can tell from the release note, the only thing the update does is address the aforementioned LTE issue.
The release note reads:
watchOS 4.0.1 fixes issues that in rare cases were causing Apple Watch to join unauthenticated (captive) Wi-Fi networks, such as those found in public places like coffee shops and hotels, which direct the user to a web page before the network can be accessed.
If you’re one of the unlucky Apple Watch Series 3 owners to have experienced cellular troubles, you’ll probably want to update ASAP.
